October, 2021
There is so much water around the town of Mossyrock. No wonder it’s mossy here and the town is named after the moss, eh?
But also, that’s why I love it here so much … I love being around water. There are lakes here, big and small, and rivers and creeks and bogs and ponds. I guess that’s why the otters love it here too. 🙂
Of course, the two dams (Mayfield and Mossyrock) create lakes (Mayfield and Riffe) on the Cowlitz River, but as I was driving around seeing other things, I realized there are lots of other small rivers and creeks that feed into the Cowlitz River. The water in those small rivers and creeks backs up too because of the dams. And all that water means there are lots of bridges. Bridges are important.
Even without bridges, just driving the back roads here is a delight.
But bridges connect one side to the other, and that’s important. And they allow us to see and experience all manner of things we wouldn’t see and experience otherwise.
Today, I was driving yet another back road and approached yet another bridge; it seemed so pretty. I pulled over and parked the big white truck just off the road at one end of the bridge and then I walked out onto the bridge, along the pedestrian walkway.
I had no idea until I got partway out onto the bridge that the remains of the original one-lane bridge was still there, just off to the side, down at water level. When they built the new wider, two-lane bridge (with a sidewalk on both sides), they left a portion of each end of the original single-lane bridge.
Photo below … close-up of the concrete support for one corner of the end of that section above. You can see that the top of that round concrete used to have on top of it another rectangular support for the next part of the original roadway (that section now gone, of course).
Below … the old section at the other/far end of the new bridge.
Here’s a closer photo (below) of the section at the other end. Notice the RED arrow … it’s pointing at some wobbly old boards that lead from solid ground, out across the water, then out onto this remaining section of the old roadway.
I walked across the new bridge until I was above that section with the wobbly boards and I took a photo looking straight down at those tilted, wobbly, tipply boards …
Yikes! I sure hope no one walks on them. It would be so easy to step off one of the boards, or for the boards to slide sideways, or just cave in … and then dump you in the water or, worse, break your leg or ankle. But someone must have put them there as a way to get from solid ground and then out onto that section of the original roadway. I wonder why.
Ah, my timing was perfect! Almost. I walked further along the new bridge, almost off the far end of the new big bridge, and then realized a young fellow had parked around the corner and was walking out towards those wobbly boards! I tried to get back fast enough to get a photo of him crossing the boards, but I didn’t make it. But I did get a photo of him standing out on that section of the old roadway/bridge … casting his first cast for some tasty lake fish. I wish him a good catch, and sure footing across those boards on the way back.
I’d been so focused on those two sections of the original roadway/bridge that I hadn’t looked along the other side of the new bridge that I was walking along.
I crossed over to the other side (hmmm, that sounds ominous). The water and trees on the other side of the newer bridge were absolutely gorgeous. And so peaceful. I just stood and stared. For a long time.
And then I moved to the left so I could see further up the waterway there in the distance. Click on, or otherwise enlarge, the photos below and take your time with them.
Can the world get any more beautiful?
Nope. We’ve got the best of it. That’s why we know that this is the best place on earth to live.
Absolutely gorgeous photos, Ann.
Thanks, Fritzi. 🙂 That sure is an accurate statement.
Fun bridge stuff. Great idea to leave a part of the old bridge so people don’t stand on and fish off the new bridge. It’s odd that someone doesn’t build a decent walkway out there tho.
Thos last photos are stunning.
I thought that too, Tim. Why not build a decent walkway out there? Well, I guess it’s up to the folks who live and fish there.
Fascinating bridge info. But those last four photos are awesome!
Thanks, M&M. 🙂
Great four photos! And fun stuff about the bridges. I sure wouldn’t walk out there on those boards! Holy cow!
Me either, Marge!
LOL! “I crossed over to the other side” Be careful! Scary stuff! 🙂 Interesting old bridge/road info and photos … one wonders how they built and positioned those round concrete supports under water for that original small bridge/road. Must have been maybe during the building of the Mayfield Dam before the water rose behind the dam and filled in? Maybe they knew a bridge across this feeder river that fed into the Cowlitz River would be needed and so they constructed those round concrete supports and buried them deep in the bottom? Somewhere in the bowels of the state’s documents or other documents is the history. Really great photos water photos.
Yes, I suspect, like you did, that they poured and anchored those round concrete supports before the water filled in behind the Mayfield Dam. Would have been interesting to have those originals documents, and photos too.
We’re with Fritzi. This is the best place on earth to live and the most beautiful .. whether you call it the pacific northwest of the USA or the pacific southwest of Canada .. whether it’s western Washington State or beautiful British Columbia. The two of us (Jim&Janey) have traveled the world and found so many beautiful places, but there is nothing and nowhere as beautiful as right here at home. The water, the mountains, the lakes and rivers, the people, the orca, the eagles, and the seagulls … the otters and the elk and the heron and swans, the humpback whales, the bear, the rivers and waterfalls, the owls, the glaciers, and the skunks even the skunks (they are beautiful!), and the trees, the trees! Nothing on earth is as beautiful as right here at home. The pictures in this blog post prove that. Super photos.
Oh you nailed it! Everything here is so stupendous. That was a great description. Thank you, both of you.
Gorgeous photos! I like the second photo a lot too, makes me curious what’s further on along that road.
I had stopped the truck to take that photo and, even right then in that moment, I looked ahead to that curve and wondered what was up and around the road. 🙂
Can’t pick a favorite photo, too many favorites! But I really like photo #2, same as Nevada. And I adore those last four water photos. I wondered why one of the original bridge sections was clear of growth, and the other had lots of grass/weeds on it … and then I noticed the sunshine. I bet people are using the section that’s in the sunshine and so it’s being walked on and kept clear of growth. Yes? I don’t know. 🙂 Sounded good to me.
Ruth, I wondered that too, about the grass on one section of the old bridge, but then the other section had no grass on it. There were no boards from the land out onto the section that had grass on it, so I suspect you are correct … it’s shoes and boots and fishing gear and a lunch box or two and fairly constant use that keep the far section clear of grass. Sounds good to me too. 🙂
I don’t know of waterways here in England like this. So beautiful. I have worked on railways all my life, been everywhere, many times. This place you show us is so extraordinary. If you come to England, it would be my honor to share what I know of areas you might enjoy here.
Henry, a friend of mine and I spent about a month in England and Scotland a few years ago. I’d surely like to return. If/when I do, I’ll let you know. I would be so pleased to get tips and information from you. You have traveled the length of the land. I’ll be in touch!
I always thought I loved flowers more than anything, but I’m beginning to realize that I love trees and water and sky every bit as much. thank you. And yes, photo #2 just draws me in, I need to see what’s around the corner! 🙂
The world is so beautiful, isn’t it, Ruby? The smallest flower can be so amazing. And the biggest sky as well.